Sunday, August 31, 2014

John, Paul, Al Black, Ringo and George at Al Black's house in West Atlantic City - Monday, Aug. 31, 1964

The Story Behind the Photo:

The
Beatles in Atlantic City – A Day in the Life - August 30, 1964 - Bill Kelly

The Beatles came to Atlantic City in commercial
delivery truck, played a half hour show that nobody heard, stayed for one
memorable night, and left in a bread truck, but not before playing a game of
Monopoly on the hotel room floor, eating a White House sub, writing a song, and
instigating chaos and mayhem on the streets and boardwalk.

When George Hamid, Jr. booked the Beatles to play
the Steel Pier in the spring of 1964, they had a few hit songs and had
attracted 73 million people to watch them on the Ed Sullivan TV show, so Hamid
signed them to come to Atlantic City when they were hot, and were still relatively
affordable. $10,000 is what Sullivan paid them for three songs, and Hamid would
get a dozen songs and a half-hour performance, and he hoped they were still
popular at show time in August.

Hamid’s Steel Pier was a well known and popular
venue for British Invasion bands – and most of them would play there, but the
Beatles came in on the biggest wave, one that’s still being talked about.

Hamid originally wanted the Beatles to play the
Steel Pier ballroom, where most of the big acts performed, but by the end of
the summer Beatlemania was clearly contagious and spreading wildly and they
were bigger than the ballroom, so he moved the show down the boardwalk to Convention
Hall, a week after the Democratic National Convention was held there.

“All the Way with LBJ” banners left over from the
Democrat convention were still hanging and the First Daughters of the President
– teenagers Lynda Bird and Luci Baines Johnson stayed in Atlantic City just to
attend the show.

The Atlantic City Police thought they had their
hands full with the civil rights demonstrators during the Democratic National
Convention earlier that week, but were totally unprepared for what would become
known as “Beatlemania,” and be considered a terrorist security threat today.

Everyone could feel the buildup of anticipation as
the Beatles were coming, but nobody could imagine the pandemonium that would
ensue.

Former Atlantic City police officer Robert Clifton,
who was assigned security duty, put together his recollections for Beatlefan Magazine
and recalled: “It was the end of August 1964. I had been with the Atlantic
City police department for five years. During that time I had experienced
a lot, particularly when it came to celebrity security details. There was
Sinatra at the 500 Club, Ricky Nelson, Dick Clark and Paul Anka at the Steel
Pier…But the impact left by four young mean from Liverpool is still with
me. At the end my career, I saw nothing that can equal that one night many
years ago.”

“As the last days of the summer faded away,” Clifton
recalled, “we stood and watched as the political banners, streamers and
confetti from the Democratic Convention blew away, caught in an ocean breeze
and scattered along the Boardwalk. It was the finish of what had been
three long weeks of security, dignitary protection and the beginning of protest
demonstrations. Now it was over but there was more to come. The Beatles
were coming. George Hamid, owner and operator of the Steel Pier, had somehow
induced the group to come to Atlantic City. Hamid leased the Atlantic City Convention
Hall and the tickets went on sale. They sold immediately and naturally
this one night show was a total sell-out. That was to be
expected. What happened next was unexpected.”

Tickets went on sale in May at the Steel Pier box –
four at a time – ranging in price from $2.75 for general admittance to $3.90
and $4.90 for reserved seating, tax included, cash only, first come first
served, and the line extended down the boardwalk. Any tickets left after two
days were mailed to those who sent a check or money order, but the 18,000
tickets were sold out in short order and the general admittance would fill the
room to capacity. Some of these tickets are on sale on the internet today at much higher prices.

When the Rolling Stones came to town Hamid picked
them up at the airport in his convertible and drove them to the boardwalk where
he bought them hot dogs and pizza, and hardly anybody recognized them. He
couldn’t do that with the Beatles.

By August the Beatles had continued to feed on their
skyrocketing popularity and were to be met in Atlantic City by thousands of
screaming fans, mainly teenage girls with high pitched voices, so they required
special security to keep them safe from the unruly crowds.

Hamid grew up in a circus family so he was used to
this sort of thing, and to handle this problem he turned to Al Black, an
Atlantic City private eye in the best Sam Spade - Peter Gun tradition. The son
of a policeman, “Big Al” was a former marine, around the island swimmer, and later
a central figure in an undercover sting operation. A TV detective show with
Brian Dennehy - “Big Shamus, Little Shamus,” was based on Big Al’s exploits.

Getting the Fab Four to their gig and then to their
hotel with thousands of screaming fans blocking the streets was certainly a big
chore, but not for Al Black. Keeping the Beatles on time, safe and secure was
something that Al Black could do, with a lot of help from the Atlantic City
Police Department.

The police thought they had their hands full with
demonstrators during the Democratic Convention, but this was more difficult, as
thousands of hysterical teenage girls can be more dangerous than terrorists.

Robert Palamaro, a former AC motorcycle policeman
recalls today that, “I was detailed to them, and we brought them in inside a
bread truck.”

Palamaro says that, “Al Black was the one who put it
all together. His father was a policeman, a detective and a truant officer when
I was in school.”

Palamaro got friendly with Al Black, who was also
pals with Palamaro’s father-in-law Skinny D’Amato, owner of the famed 500 Club.
Since Palamaro married Skinny’s daughter Paula Jane, and served as Sinatra’s
bodyguard, he is loaded with fantastic stories and celebrity photos, including
one of him with the Beatles.

Assigned to the Beatles security, patrolman Clifton
recalled the Beatles arriving in a limo. “We arrived at 5 p.m. the night of the
show and at least 1,000 fans lined Pacific Avenue, the street that fronts the
stage door entrance to Convention Hall. We were told that the motorcade
with the Beatles would arrive at 6. During that hour we watched the crowd in
the street grow larger. About 5:45 we were alerted the caravan was en route, barricades
were moved into position, creating a passageway from the curb to the stage
door. When the crowd saw this happening, it was their cue to move into a
better position…In an instant, hundreds of people made a rush across Pacific
Avenue, oblivious to moving traffic, concerned only with getting closer…The
Beatles were coming…The crowd moved as one, like a great wave of humanity,
pushing, showing, straining to see, holding cameras up over their heads, hoping
to be lucky enough to get on decent shot. As the limousine pulled up to
the curb, an eager fan jumped in front of it, only to be pinned at the knees,
caught between the front bumper of the limo and the rear bumper of a police car
stopped in front of it….The car door opened and out came the Beatles, wanting
to smile, wanting to be friendly. The crowd made its move, rushing forward
to greet them. For their own safety each young man was surrounded by
police officers. Paul McCartney, the last Beatle to exit from the
limousine, was practically shoved through the single opened door that led into
the building. The crowd continued its surge and in order to restrain them,
police officers picked up the wooden barricades and charged into the mob of
people. Finally, the stage door was closed and bolted.”

The Beatles were in the building.

THE
PRESS CONFERENCE

“The band was then escorted up a flight of stairs to
a series of rooms where a press conference was to take place,” Clifton
recalled. “The four young men, each dressed differently, sat comfortably at a
long table. Each had his own microphone in front of him.”

The Beatles’ Public Relations man - Derek Taylor
stood in front of a floor mike and introduced the Beatles to the local media
and assorted hangers on. In an interview later on Taylor said, “Outside of
Convention Hall we were immediately surrounded by kids. How it happened I don’t
know because everyone was warned, but the crowd was unpredictable and wild.”

As the interview went on it was easy to see, said
Clifton, “that the group who entered the room – sincere, eager and willing to
answer questions – soon lost interest. This was caused by the people
conducting the interview, not all professional media, who asked such questions
as, ‘What do you think of America? What do you think of American girls? What
do you think of Atlantic City? The same questions were asked over and over
again and the one subject the Beatles were eager to talk about - their music -
was the one topic that was forever being overlooked.”

“This type of
questioning continued” wrote Clifton, “and Ringo Starr casually leaned back in
his seat, as if disappointed with it all. Hundreds of flash bulbs kept popping.”

Larry Kane, one reporter who did asked the Beatles
some serious questions, was a Florida radio news reporter who so impressed
Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, that Epstein asked Kane to join them on
tour, the only reporter allowed to travel with them. Kane, who would become a
popular Philadelphia TV anchorman, wrote a book about what it was like being on
tour with the Beatles.

“At long last,” notes Clifton, “the interview was
over. It was getting near show time. The Beatles went about their
preparations, changing now into matching suits, combing what was then
considered long hair. Each was calm, quiet, reserved, yet friendly in a
shy way. There was a total professionalism about them, despite their
youth. They were ready to perform if the audience would let them. I
escorted Paul McCartney into the hallway outside the dressing room, looked out
through the window and saw that in over an hour the crowd on Pacific Avenue had
increased to a few thousand people. Those with tickets were out front on
the Boardwalk, entering, taking seats, waiting for the show to begin.”

THE
SHOW – 60 MINUTES OF SCREAMING GIRLS

Totally unappreciated were the opening acts. The
Righteous Brothers left the tour early on, feeling neglected by the crazy
Beatles’ fans, and all but forgotten are the others – Tommy Roe, the Bill Black
Combo, the Exciters, and New Orleans soul singer Clarence “Frogman” Henry. Jackie
DeShannon was there too, and she stuck with the tour and got to work with the
Beatles, considering it an important time in her career.

8:30 p.m. “Showtime came at last,” wrote Clifton. “We
left the dressing room and walked down a narrow staircase to the backstage
area. Each Beatle still remained calm, patiently waiting to go on
stage. The noise from the audience at this time is rather hard to
describe. It was different, not an impatient murmur, but more like one of
expectation, a funny kind of excitement. Then came the words from the
giant speakers situated throughout the large auditorium, ‘The Beatles!’ And,
all at once we were moving, walking quickly out on to the stage. Once
there we were met with a mighty blast of sound, a solid wall of noise that
actually struck you with a force that stopped your forward momentum.”

The Convention Hall stage is huge, too big for the
small quartet and their small sound system, which was what a garage band would
use today. Instead of using the main stage the Beatles were on a makeshift 15
foot high platform constructed on scaffolding in front of the stage, with a
half dozen police officers, Clifton with them. He recalled that, “Eighteen police
officers stood below us, between the Beatles and 25,000 screaming fans. But
no one moved from in front of their seats toward the stage as the Beatles began
to play.” They were polite but disorderly and remained in their place.

“Don’t ask what songs they played,” said Clifton, “because
no one except the Beatles can answer that question. No one heard one song,
one lyric, not even one note. The cheers never stopped. The screams never
died and the tears from the eyes of young girls never stopped flowing. It
was Beatlemania.”

Of the Beatles’ fans, Larry Kane later said, “I
wanted to look at their faces and what I saw, almost to a person, is the boys
and mostly young girls, ripping their hairs, tears flowing from their eyes, not
tears of agony or joy – it was possession, and they were possessed with these
four young men.”

For the record, the Beatles opened the twelve song
set with “Twist and Shout,” that the Isley Brothers had made a hit, and
concluded with Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally,” sandwiching them around
Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” the Shirelles’ “Boys,” and some originals
- “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves
You,” “You Can’t Do That,” “All My Loving,” “Things We Said Today,” “Can’t Buy
Me Love,” “If I Fell,” and “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Then in a little over a half hour it was all over,
and no encore.

“The show was over,” notes Clifton, “but there was
plenty more to come.”

THE
DELIVERY TRUCK ESCAPADE

The Beatles got out of Convention Hall in a
commercial delivery truck, though different people remember different details,
like what kind of delivery truck it was. Clifton recalls them arriving in a
limo and leaving in a laundry truck. The Beatles chronology says it was a fish
truck, one fan remembers an ambulance, while Bobby Palamaro recalls it being a
bread truck, to be more specific - a Rando Bakery bread truck.

“As the auditorium cleared,” Clifton recalled, “fans
raced to Pacific Avenue to join thousands who had been there before them. All
wanted to see the group one more time. The street was filled with milling
people. Traffic stopped and had to be rerouted. The limousine that brought
them was unable to make it into the street from the garage, and even if it had
made it there was a danger that the vehicle would be swarmed by eager
fans. It became a security nightmare. As time passed it was evident
that for the safety of the people in general and for the Beatles in particular
something had to be done. Finally, a solution was agreed upon and a distinctly
marked laundry truck made its way down Georgia Avenue, made its way slowly
through the crowd, eventually arriving in a secure area of the garage. Each
Beatle was taken to the garage area located below the Convention Hall and
placed inside the van, made comfortable and very quietly taken from the
building. The laundry truck was completely ignored by the fans.”

Kathy Gerdsen met the Beatles in Atlantic City in
1964 and kept in contact with the Harrison family over the years. Gerdsen met
the Beatles after their concert at the Atlantic City Convention Hall. She had
been in the hall with the rest of the screaming girls, then when leaving she
noted that there were two ambulances parked by one of the backstage exits.
"Most people thought the Beatles had already left," she later
recalled. "But I saw the ambulances and went towards them. It was a chance
thing. I climbed on the back of the ambulance, turned around, and bumped
straight into Paul. He was leaning against the gurney."

Before the police pulled her away she got to talk to them as they climbed in. She recalled George and Ringo got into one
while John joined Paul in the second. "I asked George how I could keep in
contact with them and he told me to write his parents at Macketts Lane,
Liverpool and that's what I did." Over the years, Gerdsen wrote faithfully
and in 1974, George came to Madison Square Garden to do a concert with Ravi Shankar
and she met them at the Plaza Hotel. Ten years earlier Gerdsen almost caught a
ride with the Beatles to the Lafayette Hotel in Atlantic City.

LIFE
AT THE LAFAYETTE

Palamaro recalls that, “We did the show at
Convention Hall and then took them to the hotel – the Lafayette, which is no
longer there. We just made small talk with them, and mainly dealt with their
manager. They were just chillin’, just trying to relax, and we were making sure
nobody got near them. Our job was to keep people away from them so they could
relax, but girls were climbing up the fire escape, it was really unbelievable.”

Clifton remembers that, “Once they arrived at the
Lafayette Motor Inn, located at the other end of town, the Beatles became
virtual prisoners in their own suite of rooms. While they relaxed, the fans
continued to mill about, calling from the street below, teenage girls found
their way to the rear of the hotel and like human flies began climbing from
balcony to balcony. In their rooms, the group relaxed. They talked briefly
about the show, the audience response and how they had left the area. Later,
they ate submarine sandwiches form the White House Sub Shop.”

When it was time to get something to eat, they
wanted to try a local delicacy, so Palamaro suggested White House subs. As he
explains it, “my uncle Tony Basile owned the White House subs, and we couldn’t
take them there, so we decided to bring sandwiches to them.”

Basile’s daughter Jen, who runs the White House
today, was too young to recall the Beatles, but has a paper plate with their
signatures on it, framed and hanging on her wall.

PHOTO: Atlantic City policeman Bobby Palamaro with
the Beatles and White House sub.

When Palamaro brought the special “Six Foot Sub” to
the Beatles, he recalls that, “Brian Epstein, their manager was there, and he
frowned on anyone taking pictures. But we had Jim Barber - the official police
photographer there, so they let him take that picture with me and the White
House subs.”

The Lafayette Hotel in Atlantic City where the Beatles stayed August 30, 1964

One of the opening acts, Jackie DeShannon, whose hit
songs would include “What the World Needs Now,” “Put a Little Love in Your
Heart,” and “Bette David Eyes,” can be seen in a photo of her and George
Harrison playing Monopoly on the carpet floor of the Lafayette.

EVERY LITTLE THING

During their stay in Atlantic City the dynamic
songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney combined to write “Every
Little Thing,” which they recorded in late September for their fourth album
“For Sale,” released in the UK at the end of 1964 and in the US in June of
1965.

Every Little Thing

When
I’m walking beside her

People
tell me I’m lucky.

Yes,
I know I’m a lucky guy.

I
remember the first time

I was
lonely without her

Can’t
stop thinking about her now.

Every
little thing she does,

She
does for me, yea.

And
you know the things she does,

She
does for me, oooh.

When
I’m with her I’m happy

Just
to know that she loves me

Yes,
I know that she loves me now.

There
is one thing I’m sure of

I will
love her forever.

For I
know love will never die.

Every
little thing she does,

She
does for me, yea.

And
you know the things she does,

She
does for me, yea.

And
you know the things she does,

She
does for me, oooh.

Every little thing.

Every
little thing.

Every
little…..

Paul wrote the lyrics and later said: “John and I
got this one written in Atlantic City during our first tour of the States. John
does the guitar riff and George is on
acoustic. Ringo bashes some timpani drums for the big noises you
hear. ‘Every Little Thing,’ was my attempt at the next (big) single. I remember
playing it for Brian backstage somewhere. I thought it was very
catchy, something I thought was quite good but became an album filler rather
than the almighty single. It didn't have quite what was required (to be a hit
single).”

The Beatles began recording ‘Every Little Thing’ on
29 September 1964, taped four takes, then the following day recorded five
attempts. Take six was aborted when Paul burped, take seven ended in laughter. Finally
they got it right but relegated it an album filler rather than a single.

Keith Badman describes it as a “devotional love
song, most likely written with Jane Asher in mind, and emotionally
revealing…although the music was less successful, the lyrics are among
McCartney's most succinct and tender on the album.”

And it was penned at the Hotel Lafayette in Atlantic
City on August 30, 1964.

Bobby Palamaro, who stood guard at their hotel room
door, says today, “I was 30 years old then, and now I’m 80, but I still
remember them. They were really nice kids. We got to talking and you just had
to like them.”

“The summer night turned into morning and a few hours
later The Beatles were gone,” Clifton nostalgically wrote, “off to some other
city, to some other concert. Many things have happened since 1964, but looking
back over the years, that one particular evening stayed with me. I never
forgot it. I never will. The Beatles made an impact not only in show
business, but in the world. And I was there seeing, hearing, feeling it,
maybe in a very small way a part of it, a part of history that summer of 1964.”

SNEAKING
OUT OF TOWN – VISIT TO WEST ATLANTIC CITY

But the Beatles weren’t out of town yet. Al Black
had them in the back of the truck so he took them home, to his house at 1112
Bay Drive in West Atlantic City to meet the family and some of the neighbors.

Al Black’s daughter Donna, who now runs the Black
security service, was only a child who sat on the shoulders of a neighbor when
the Beatles visited the Black’s home. A few photos were taken, but only one
survives.

Donna Black recalls, “My babysitter was among the
throngs at Convention Hall, and was really upset at missing the Beatles at my
house.” But some of the local neighbors came by and the lads from Liverpool got
a taste of the real Atlantic City while they were here.

The pit stop in West Atlantic City isn’t mentioned
in the Beatlesbible chronicle that says they continued on their Jersey Shore
journey: “2:15 pm left Lafayette Motel–Hotel in fish truck which took them to
their tour bus, which took them to Cape May where they stayed at the Lafayette
Hotel.”

Both Lafayette hotels, the one where the Beatles
stayed in Atlantic City and the one in Cape May, were named in honor of the
French hero of the American Revolution - Gen. Marquis de Lafayette, and neither
are standing today. Although no one today seems to recall them being there, records
indicate the Beatles stayed in Cape May for the two days, a short hiatus before
their September 2nd show in Philadelphia, when they had to get back on the
Beatlemania bus.

The old Lafayette Hotel on Beach Drive in Cape May, where the Beatles stayed August 31-Sept. 2, 1964

The chronicles say: “Day off in Cape May, New Jersey.
10.00 am, Monday 31 August 1964, following their concert the previous night at
the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, the Beatles relaxed at the Marquis de
Lafayette Hotel, Cape May, New Jersey. Paul McCartney used the time off to
call Elvis Presley on the telephone. Cape May – Monday August 31 – Wednesday
September 2.”

The 2014 Cape May Film Festival to be held at the Chalftonte
Hotel- October 17-19, will feature a showcase of Beatles Films in honor of the
50th Anniversary of their first US visit, including “A Hard Days Night,” which
was publicly released in September 1964 and may have been privately screened by
the Beatles when they were kicking back in Cape May.

“A Hard Days Night” somewhat captures on film, the
madcap “Beatlemania” mayhem - a possessive, contagious pandemonium that swept
through Atlantic City for one day in late August, 1964, and is still remembered
by those who were there.

Al Black with Ringo and the 1964 Photo when Ringo and his All Star Band played Bally in 1999

Monday, July 28, 2014

Heading “down
the shore” as they say in Philly, on a late July Monday, old ghosts haunted me. My good
friend Gerry happily agreed to be my tour guide as she is Tinker Bell and is
always up for adventure and fun.

Had not
been inside a bar in Somers Point since the 60’s. Also last saw Ocean City in
full season in the summer of ’71.

Was
following the advice of my writing teacher to find old haunts from the early ’60s. "It’s tax deductable," he said, with more encouragement than I had hoped for.

Since I
spent most of my leisure hours at the Point, our first stop was the Anchorage
Tavern, where we found a busy restaurant and empty bar around 1 pm.

The
bartender was very nice but too young for the memories I was looking for. But he told us, “You just missed the best person in town to talk to – Bill Kelly.”

“Wow,”
Gerry said, “I have his book ‘300 Years at the Point!’”

“You
might find him at Gregory’s,” the bartender said, and off we went in search of
Bill Kelly.

Gregory’s
was the second stop on our list and driving up and seeing what looked like a
flash back to the past sent waves of nostalgia flooding my senses. Cheep beer,
romance and good times were always available at Gregory’s. It was always the
first stop on the way to Tony Marts or Bay Shores or both. The evening often
ended at the Dunes – Dune’s Till Dawn.

When I
got off the bus in early April of ’63, I was 18 going on a hundred. By the time
Memorial Day arrived and serious carding kept most under-age drinkers out of
the Point, I was already a regular and no one carded me. I looked older and was
glad, would like to think I look younger now. How time changes the way we want
to be perceived!

Back in
the early ‘60s the Point had a sophisticated style as college kids prevailed
and cool was in. To my 18 year old eyes it was ever so special.

The
lunch crowd at Gregory’s sat around an oval bar, most at the far end. It was an
older crowd and exactly what I had hoped for.

Walking
in bravely, I carried my Cannon Rebel camera and Gerry carried the notebook
where the famous research notes would be collected. We were trying to look cool
and professional, women to be taken seriously.

“Is Bill
Kelly here?” I said in a loud and determined voice. Silence filled the room.

Quickly
the smiles retreated. Felt like strangers who walk into the tavern at high noon
in an old western not welcome and often shot.

I
explained that I was writing a novel about the early ’60’s when I waitressed in
Ocean City, and I heard he had written a book about the Point.

Smiles returned but silence remained. No one agreed to be interviewed. I gave the
bartender my card with psychotherapist crossed off and “writer” written below.
Put my cell number on the back, which I use only for emergencies, though this
was beginning to feel like one.

Told the
bartender to give the card to Bill Kelly as we would like to take him to
dinner, if we should get so lucky!

We
headed for the Point Diner, the third place on our list. It’s impossible to
miss as you drive around the circle on your way to the bridge to Ocean City. If
driving into your past was possible this was it.

Only
thing missing was the bakery, the late night Soprano crowd and the guy who left
me with a heart in a thousand pieces. The juke boxes in the booths brought
flashbacks of “us” sitting there after a night of dancing and romantic young
love, the kind you never forget. How easy it is to love a stranger!

Our
next stop was the Ocean City Historical Society and the local library. We never
got there that day. “One more stop at Gregory’s, you run in and if you are not out
in five minutes I will park,” Gerry said.

Walked
into the larger late lunch crowd of about 14, including a few stragglers from
before, all over 40. Felt like I had entered a time warp.

Almost
everyone smiled this time except for one guy in a Hawaiian shirt who looked
like half of him should be in Key West. The baseball cap gave him a friendly
boyish look even without the smile.

Asked
if Mr. Kelly ever showed up?

Someone
pointed to the part-local guy. Walked over and asked him if he was, in fact,
Bill Kelly?

Serious
mistrust clouded his face and I saw my card in front of him. Suddenly I
panicked, thinking my ever so private cell number was being passed around the
room.

Grabbed
my card and started to leave with a few choice words trailing behind me. The
bartender stopped me. “He really is the guy you’re looking for.”

Returned
and put my card back. Bill almost smiled and said, “Your number is already on
the bathroom wall.”

I
had to laugh even if it was true. “

“Your
card says psychotherapist?”

“Not
anymore,” I said, being looked at in disbelief. I explained as fast as I could,
figuring I had about one minute to reinvent myself. “My writing teacher Bill
Kent from Penn sent me here to do research.”

Suddenly
a smile, he had heard of him.

Gerry
then walked in and my trip down Memory Lane started as Gerry furiously took
notes.

Bill
introduced us to the cast of characters. Bill said, “You need to talk to that
guy over there, he was the head lifeguard on the 9th Street Beach in
the early ‘60s.”

Looked
across the bar to see a man who looked toned and God-like. Not only did he validate
my memories, he misted over when I asked him if he knew a beautiful and
voluptuous women who ended her nights sleeping on his beach in her blue jeans.
There were so many witnesses to help me fill in some of my cloudy memories.

Skipping
down Memory Lane an adorable man, who was somewhere between 16 and 40 brought
in his catch of the day – a golf bag! This was Peter Pan who brought laughter
to everyone, including some of the ghosts in the room, sealing this moment in
time forever. I took a picture of him outside with the Gregory’s sign in the
background. Got another of him inside with Tinker Bell.

Bill
gave me his book and I have had time to read it! He may have only been 12 in ’63
but he was able to capture the spirit of those times more clearly than one who
was there. Guess that is what makes him a great writer. He also gave me some
other ideas that have been priceless to me. We invited him to dinner. It was
his birthday! He invited us to join him and friends at the Bubba Mac Shack
where Bubba was having a 50th birthday celebration along with Jerry
Blavat, owner of Memories bar in Margate. Many remember Jerry mainly as a
famous DJ from their past.

At
Gregory’s we said goodbye to all and finally made the trip over the bridge to
empty the car and return to Somers Point around 7. What a celebration and dance
party! Bubba’s was rocking with “oldies” like me. Wondering if we would ever
find Bill again, we asked the hostess and she directed us to the dance floor. There he was standing on the stairs overlooking the dance floor, relaxed and
smiling among his friends. He looked happy to see us and introduced us to his many
friends who never stopped coming over with birthday greetings. Fifties music
prevailed and Gerry and I danced with each other, Bill and others. It really
did not matter who you danced with! Taught Gerry the stroll as she is too young
to remember it. What fun! Felt like the entire night was at trip into the
Twilight Zone.

Lost
him again, and wondered if we would ever find Bill Kelly again. We asked a
women we had met earlier if she saw him. We are supposed to take him to dinner!

She
laughed, “Honey this is a small town, everyone knew you and your friend were
coming here tonight.”

Maybe
my number is on the bathroom wall beside free dinner. Oh, well, who cares
anyway?

Found
him again, glad he wears that cap even though at one point he took it off and
he is covering up some gorgeous hair. Ended up back at Gregory’s for a five star
dinner. Did I ever eat dinner at Gregory’s in the ’60’s. No I don’t think so,
would have remembered food this great!

People
came and went all bringing birthday cheer and hugs and kisses. Some stayed.
Clearly this was a man loved by many. We were not the only ones to feed him. He
could barely finish all the food he ate before joining us at the bar.

Finally
Bill signed his book for me and we left him with his friends. Not wanting to
break the spell we left before the clock struck 12. Turned out to be a day I
will always remember. Never knew research could be so much fun! Not only did we
find Bill Kelly and my memories, we found a guy with a heart as big as the
ocean and new memories a good as the old ones.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Seeing people at the shore dining and drinking and dancing
disco or listening to soft jazz and thinking they’re having a good time should
see how people had a good time in the same place a few decades ago – swinging and
dancing to live bands, not a person in the place sitting down or standing still
– rock n’ and rolling and really partying into the early morning hours.

Then, after a good half century run, beginning in
the early 1980s, all the old rock & roll nightclubs were renovated into
classy restaurants, going from what the late Vince Renich called “sawdust
joints” to “carpet joints,” and the live bands were replaced by D.J.s and jazz.

But they continued to play live music, only at
different venues – mainly community organized outdoor affairs – with Somers Point’s
Friday night beach concerts the epitome of a dozen similar ventures in Wildwood,
Atlantic City, Ventnor, Ocean City and EHT.

When they tore down Bay Shores and Tony Marts and
replaced them with a ski lodge and disco, the new owners said they didn’t even
need a stage for a band, but soon found out that the live music scene was a
very fluid enterprise, and they needed a stage and dance floor for weddings, so
the bands eventually wiggled their way back into the clubs, but they also found
gigs at community affairs.

Besides having live music at the annual Good Old
Days Picnic on the weekend after Labor Day, and on Bay Avenue for the spring
Bayfest, Somers Point began to present live bands on a makeshift stage on the
Bill Morrow Municipal beach every Friday night all summer long, and it’s been a
big hit with the locals and tourists alike. Who wouldn’t like sitting in a
beach chair under the stars and listen to a free concert of some really good
music.

There really is only two kinds of music – good music
and bad music, and all of the Somers Point shows are really great music is because
of Nick Regine, Carmen Marotta and Mike Pedicin, Jr. and some music savvy
people like them.

Nick started the outdoor shows when he was director
of Community Education and then went on to found the Somers Point Jazz Society,
while jazz saxman Pedicin began playing as a child at the feet of his father on
the Bay Shores stage.

Marotta however, has probably had the most immediate
impact on the local music scene as he is responsible for booking many of the bands
that play Somers Point, and is now doing similar shows in Atlantic City.

The son of Tony Marotta, the original Tony Mart,
Carmen grew up in the nightclub business and ran the club in its later years,
he maintained his interest in music, and after his family sold Tony Marts, he
opened Levon Helm’s All American Café in New Orleans and continues to visit the
Big Easy for the annual Jazz and Music Heritage Festival. While there he not
only catches the headliners (Bruce Springsteen was one the past few years), he
checks out the lesser known local talent, and books the best of the Bayou bands
and brings them to the Jersey Shore. He also books the best of the local South
Jersey talent and tries to represent all types and styles of music.

Marotta persuaded the Radiators, “Jumpin’ Johnny”
Sansone, Terance Simien et al, to visit
Somers Point, and hopefully we can look forward to more of it, not only in
Somers Point but Atlantic City as well, where Carmen has booked some of the
same acts to play Kennedy Plaza in front of Convention Hall and on the beach –
Charlie Daniels on August 11th.

Last Friday night’s beach concert in Somers Point
however, didn’t feature a single band, but rather, a conglamoration of the best
local musicians – Bob Campanell, Dr. Bobby Fingers,Danny Eyer, “Ernie T.”
Trionfo, Howard Isaacson, Rich Kurtz and Jimmy “Old School” Glenn jamming together
to play the music that made Tony Marts famous.

While I interviewed Carmen at his Bay Avenue home
many years ago – that you can read here:

Carmen lists the songs – Ray Charles’ “What ‘d I Say,” Isley
Brothers “Shout,” Otis Redding – “Try a Little Tenderness,” Bob Dylan “I Shall Be Released,” Bruce Springsteen – “Rosalita!”; and the bands
– Bill Haley and the Comets, Duane Eddie, Del Shannon, Conway Twitty, Mitch
Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Joey Dee and the Starlighters, Bob Dylan and the
Band and a grand finale featuring the original soundtrack from “Eddie & the
Cruisers” movie that was filmed at Tony Marts shortly before it was razed in
1982.

On August 12, the day after the Charlie Daniels show
on the beach, Carmen will bring in John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown band to
play their hit songs from the “Eddie & the Cruisers” movie – “On the
Darkside,” “Tender Years” and “Wild Summer Nights,” followed by a blistering
set by the hottest band at the Jersey Shore at the moment – The Billy Walton
Band.